tempus fugit

Comment of the Day, Part Two: Don the Con IS the Swamp

Al Rodbell

To evaluate the benefits of increased production requires quantifying the harm, which requires an in depth knowledge of biochemistry but also epidemiology, an arcane and difficult set of skills. Donald Trump has chosen to eliminate those possessing them from doing these evaluations, so his pronouncements are within the world of partisan acrimony.

Trump has found the way to turn the vast complexity of government, the decision of what has to be regulated and what can be in the free market into a casino. His satisfaction is in the only way he has ever known, persona aggrandizement. But turning studies such as this article into “fake liberal news” he has control of the levers of power, and in effect he is both the owner of the casino and the primary player.

Not only will he get political contributions, but the timing of his pronouncements will move markets, that he can skillfully have positions that enhance his wealth. The perfect example was his seeming incoherent back and forth on abandoning or assisting the Puerto Rico debt, with each statement moving the bond market tens of billions of value.

Certainly, he personally could have gained billions, well disguised since he has breached the norm of disclosure of his families wealth. Not only hasn’t he cleaned out the swamp, he is the swamp.